The human mind has a feature called attention which is the focal point the mind is locked in on at any point in time, and that which has the attention of the mind determines the thoughts that engage the mind at that moment.

Now the attention of the mind can be cast on the past, present, or the future. Each of these epochs as we humans understand them, can only be codified in terms of time, space and events in that space.

Space is relatively constant, though the arrangement of matter in space gets altered. Time is also relatively constant in that the earth and the universe in general, keeps on spinning irrespective of what we do or do not do. Events in time and space though are different, we play a significant role in those based on our actions which are a direct result of mental processes, conscious or not.

Past

The past are events gone by in time and space, which we have only a vague or accurate view of, depending on how we collected or stored those memories in mind or in other material forms that aren’t subject to alterations over time as the mind is.
The past is the great collector.

Present

The present is fleeting, for it is the moment, the now, the “border” between the past and the future. The present cannot be grasped, it cannot be stored. The past can be stored in mind as memories, not the present, it must and can only be lived, hence its fleeting quality.

The fleeting present, once lived, gets passed to the great collector - the past, as memories as we march towards the future.

Future

The future consists of events which are yet to be, they are portrayed as hopes, goals, or fears.

Attention

The past then represents the present we have lived, the present represents the moment we are living, the future represents the present we will live in. Thus all we actually have is the present.

Present lived – present living – present to live.

How then shall we optimally use our attention?

Dwelling on the past, the present lived, is the equivalent of inventing a mind time machine and reliving that which has been lived. Dwelling on the future, the present to live, is the equivalent of living in a world you might not see in the flesh. Living in the present is just that, living in the present.

Shall we then live like material blobs who have no mind, and cannot look to the past and the future?

Even if we tried to, it would be an absolute impossibility, rather we ought to cast our attention to the past only to the extent of learning from it to live in the present in order to optimize for the future.

What then?

To learn from the past in order to live better in the present and to prepare for an unknown or unknowable future is the best way of deploying attention.

Thank you for reading.